A Lilliecat's Work is Never Done
by UniqaChica
Summary: Jellylorum's holiday season isn't all smiles, but that doesn't mean it's not perfect...  For Jellicle Week December.
1. What were you thinking?

(A/N: Yay, Jellicle Week again! *party poppers* Enjoy! P.S. Fan fiction is now my safe haven, because my English teacher has no more writing projects planned for the rest of the year. *sad face* P.P.S. One of my cats died recently. Please pray for her. *sadder face*)

Summary: Jellylorum's holiday season isn't all smiles, but that doesn't mean it's not perfect...

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Cats.

A Lilliecat's Work is Never Done

A Jellylorum/Asparagus Fanfic

by Jill Diamond

~Chapter One~

_What where you thinking?_

"What were you thinking, falling from a height like that?" Jellylorum cried as she soaked her cloth in more water.

Asparagus inhaled sharply through his teeth as she dabbed at the cut on his leg.

"Mm, well, as I said before, I was sleepwalking! We theatre cats have very vivid dreams! Ow!"

Jellylorum began to inspect his paw.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, there is only one Theatre Cat in this Junkyard!"

Asparagus pressed his other paw against his chest.

"Blast! You've seen through my rouse!" he drawled dramatically.

She chuckled at him warmly, and then returned her attention to his paw.

"I think you've got a sprain here. Does this hurt?"

"AYIEE!"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." She ripped another length of cheesecloth from her spool and started to wrap the paw carefully. "Will you stop squirming? You're only making this harder!" She tried to keep her composure as she slightly wrestled to get his arm to remain.

"Oh, but it _hurts..._" he whined pathetically.

"Alright, now you're just doing it on purpose." A playful smile graced her features as she wrestled harder. Her paw accidentally landed on his opposite shoulder, which had a sizable bruise forming.

"GAH!" he moaned, clenching his shoulder along his neck. Jellylorum backed away at his outburst and, taking advantage of his still position, continued bandaging his paw.

"You shouldn't be playing around after you've just had a _major _injury, you little kitten," she scolded, losing her firm tone at the last few words.

Asparagus gave her a mildly impish grin.

"Gosh, I don't even know how I'll even make it home tonight. My den's on the other side of the 'yard, and the cold weather wont exactly make things any more enjoyable," he thought out loud in all seriousness.

Jellylorum began slowly tying his bandage off and looked around her own den. She absentmindedly swatted at some stray leaves with her tail, and sighed.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, I couldn't impose on-"

"You won't be imposing," she gently interrupted. "Really. There's more room in here since Jenny left, and it's well insulated; I would feel awful having to send you out in the cold." She took his good paw in both of hers with the utmost concern. Asparagus looked into her eyes for what seemed like a year, and then finally surrendered to her proposition.

(A/N: I apologize it's short, next chapter will be longer, you know the drill.)


	2. Heartache

~Chapter Two~

_Heartache_

"Now you'll sure you'll be-"

"Jelly, I'll be plenty warm enough. Stop worrying yourself," Asparagus interrupted as he tugged the weatherbeaten blanket over his body.

Jellylorum silenced herself, and simply watched him drift of into his dreams. Her den really had been emptier than usual, and she was thankful for the company. Her little sister, Jennyanydots, had recently been mated to Skimbleshanks, and had moved into his den on the northern side. Of course, Jellylorum was happy for her sister – elated even. She had pined after the Railway Cat for so long, and she had finally found happiness with him. But she couldn't help but reflect on her own life. She wasn't exactly the blooming young queen that she used to be. She used to be very spry and was always riled up for dancing at the Ball. But Jennyanydots was now where she was in her prime then, and it made her realize that she wasn't getting any younger. When she was a kitten, she had always had fantasies about what mated life would be like when she was older. But now, it seemed like she would never find the truth in those fantasies if she continued down her current path.

Her heart was lonely. Why couldn't it find another lonely heart?

(A/N: I'm not even going to attempt to make excuses for short chapters anymore. They're just gonna happen. Plus, inspiration was so flat for this chapter. Usually it wouldn't be, but my life has been really weird lately, and I couldn't concentrate.)


	3. Jellicle Christmas?

~Chapter Three~

_Jellicle Christmas?_

Jellylorum had already been awake for about an hour when Asparagus decided to open his eyes. His sandpaper tongue uncurled stiffly as he yawned.

"Mmm, you're up early."

"Well, the early bird gets the worm," she chanted. She didn't even look up from the scarf she was knitting.

Asparagus did his best to get in a comfortable sitting position without disturbing his injuries.

"I'm surprised that anyone could get to sleep with your neighbor snoring all night. I thought you said this place was insulated!"

"Insulated. Not soundproof." She giggled gently. "And I wouldn't go out and file a complaint if I were you. It's Tugger."

Asparagus stared into space for a brief moment, and then just settled on "Ah." They sat in silence for a few minutes, only interrupted by the rhythmic chinking of Jellylorum's knitting needles.

"Hey...Jelly?" he nearly whispered.

She looked up at him, taken slightly aback that he wasn't looking her in the eye.

"Um...you've got a place to go over the holidays, right?"

Jellylorum was startled at the question. During the winter holidays, the Junkyard was locked up by the humans. Nobody got in or out. So the Jellicles all had to find places to stay during the cold season. All of the house cats usually just went home to their owners, while the street cats had to improvise. Some stayed with other street cat friends in the alleys, and some whined pathetically outside of random doors and played the "temporary pet" card, running away when the day came to open the Junkyard doors again.

"Oh, uh...yes, actually..." she bumbled, gesturing awkwardly to her braided collar.

"Oh! Of-of course. Yeah..." She could tell that he felt incredibly stupid for not seeing her indication of ownership.

"You've got somewhere too, right?"

"Oh yeah, yeah. Don't you worry about me. Yeah, I-I got a friend that'll take me in," he answered a little too quickly.

She wanted to interrogate him more, for the combination of his line of questioning and his fake tone were making her quite worried, but she let it go and continued knitting in silence.


	4. Hot chocolate

~Chapter Four~

_Hot Chocolate Could Make Anything Better_

The Junkyard had been locked up tight. It was wavering below -3 degrees outside, but Jellylorum was at home by her fire. She stared blankly into the hearth and watched in crackle. She had been confused ever since that morning when Asparagus had asked her about her winter relocation. It didn't seem all that uncommon – lots of cats asked each other that. But it was simply the way he had said it, and how scared he looked. Plus, he had had plenty of time to notice her collar and realize what she would say if he asked her. It didn't make sense, and it irritated her that she couldn't figure out his angle. She had always been the cat that was clever and could see through all problems, and now she was stumped and it mocked her.

"A little down in the dumps are we, sweetie?"

Jellylorum was broken from her thick thoughts by the sweet, rattled voice of her human. She gazed up sympathetically at her. She was a darling old lady with bones like twigs who knitted like it was a drug. The queen herself had actually learned the craft from her. But she had clearly lost her marbles a long time ago, for she still spoke of her veteran husband as if he was alive, and sometimes rambled on about the strangest things for hours. But she had a comforting grandma voice to listen to, so Jellylorum didn't mind.

"You remind me of Alfred when he got called to fight. Oh, boy, did that shake him up! I still don't think he's gotten over it, and the war's far over by now!" The lady took a shaky slurp of her cocoa, and the queen's mouth twitched into a small grin. "Ahh...that's the stuff! I feel all toasty inside and out! I tell you, sweetie, hot chocolate could make anything better. I'll bet one sip of this stuff would get you out of those dumps you've been in! Then again, I don't exactly think kitty cats can drink hot chocolate, if memory serves." She scratched the side of her head for effect, freeing a few snow white tendrils from her tight bun. "It's something that I don't think's good for your health! Which is something I don't understand." The old lady took another slurp, and then pursed her lips contemplatively. "Then again, Alfred drank gobs of this stuff when he got back home from the war, and that didn't cure him. He was still stricken with war things and such. He said, 'some things you just can't unsee.' I never actually knew what the heck he was referring to, 'cause he never talked about the war much. Heh, but I'll bet my bottom dollar he'll tell you about it."

She pushed herself up from her sad old chair, causing Jellylorum to pray to the Everlasting Cat that she wouldn't break anything, and called in her shrill shriek, "AL-_FREEEED! _WHERE ARE YA?" She waited two minutes for his never-coming reply, and then flopped her hand in the air. "Ah, forget it. It's late, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, sweetie." She trudged gingerly into her nearby bedroom, and Jellylorum breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the _flooph_ of her human landing on her sagging mattress.

She would have gone back to staring at the fire, but she heard a new sound. The sound of something pitifully scratching against the cat door flap, and the most desperate mewl she had ever heard. It was a mewl of loneliness; not being where one belonged. She padded over to the door warily, and turned up just a corner of the heavy plastic flap.

"Oh, (cough, cough) thank Everlast-t-t-ting. I th-th-thought you would b-b-b-be in bed by n-n-now...A-_CHOO!_"


	5. Fireplace

~Chapter Five~

_Fireplace_

"Asparagus?" she breathed, the sight of the distraught tom almost too much to bear. His makeshift bandages were loose and frayed, exposing his wounds to the bitter cold. His fur was tangled and his eyes were desperate.

He nodded his shivering head, and coughed a hollow cough. Jellylorum gracefully slipped herself all the way through the cat door, and wrapped her paws gently around him.

"Oh, goodness. Just look at you! Here, get inside!" she cooed sympathetically, and shifted some of his weight for her to carry.

"W-w-w-won't your human g-g-get upset-t-t?" he asked in a weak tone, slightly wincing from the pain.

"Not if she doesn't see you, and she just went to bed. Come on, now, we need to get you warm." She gingerly pulled him through the cat door, and then over to her blanket by the fireplace. Asparagus' eyes fluttered in elation as he felt the heat fall onto his fur and melt the imaginary ice.

"What were you doing out there? I thought you had a place to stay," she asked as she wrapped a corner on the blanket over him.

"I-I was lying," he whispered, pointing his misty eyes intently at the fire. "I really don't have anywhere to stay. And...and I felt really stupid about it, and I thought if I could stay with you, it wouldn't be so bad. But once you reminded me that you're a house cat, I didn't want to impose on you any more than I already was, and I just felt awkward about the whole thing. I was only lying out of pride." He ended with a flat sniff.

"Well...why didn't you just try and stay with someone else?"

"I didn't want to stay with anybody else," he answered simply, in a small voice. Jellylorum could feel her ceeks flare, and she knew it wasn't from the fire.

"Not even your father?"

"You don't know what Pop's like around the holidays. He spends all his time gorging himself on gin-spiked eggnog with his theater friends. He's happy, but he's just...not himself."

"Don't tell me he's hanging around that old pub again," Jellylorum whined slightly.

"I'm afraid so." Asparagus sighed, and then stared into the fire again.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"A lot, actually."


	6. Snowflake spiraled

~Chapter Six~

_A snowflake spiraled down, landing on my outstretched paw._

"Jelly?" The queen felt a soft poking in her side, annoyingly awaking her.

"Mhm...what? Asparagus, it's two o'clock in the morning. What is it?" she grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Look," he replied softly. He turned his head towards the front window with gleaming eyes and an enchanted smile. She followed his gaze and her own eyes widened in return.

She could see little white flakes falling gently from the sky.

"Snow," she breathed. It hadn't snowed all winter. The brown, bare ground had been looking very lonely without the powdery white magic to clothe it.

"Help me over to the window, could you?"

Without a word, Jellylorum took hold under his arm and shifted his weight as she did earlier. Her gaze kept changing from mesmerized towards the window to sympathetic towards the wincing tom next to her. With one final gentle push, Asparagus made it up onto the thankfully low window sill, and she hopped up next to him, curling her tail around her feet as she stood in awe. Her paw repeatedly twitched upwards as she tried to catch a snowflake behind the glass, but then remembered her dignity before it was too late. She couldn't help but notice the limp, frayed bandages daring to fall off of Asparagus' wounds.

She noticed her human's thick blue curtains out of the corner of her eye. The gears in her head were spinning, so she unsheathed her claws and began her work.

"What are you doing?" Asparagus inquired.

"Changing your bandages," she answered simply. She tore off a sliver of the curtain and, taking off the old one in the process, re-wrapped his sprained paw sturdily. She continued to work as he stared out into the cold night, watching the snow fall gracefully.

"Last year, I saw all the kittens poking out their tongues and tasting the snow. I know it sounds silly, but I secretly wanted to do that along with them."

With a gentle smile, Jellylorum tugged him down back onto the carpet and led him over to the cat door. He was surprisingly more able with his new curtain-bandages. She lifted up the plastic flap and led him through.

"We won't be out forever, though," she warned.

"Yes, Mother," he sighed sarcastically. Jellylorum, even though offended, couldn't help but smile, and slipped through the small square hole after him.

"Oh, it's even more gorgeous outside," he breathed. They both looked straight up towards the sky, and were captivated by the simple majesty of the snowflakes falling to Earth. Asparagus quickly stuck out his tongue and waited patiently for some white fluff to land.

"Ah! I caught one! I caught one!" he exclaimed in a kitten-like way once he felt the cold droplet, his voice distorted without the aid of his tongue.

"Well?"

Asparagus retreated, and swiveled his tongue all around his mouth, analyzing the taste.

"Needs sugar," he contemplated simply.

Jellylorum giggled, and then watched her breath float up into the night air. Then, she noticed something across the street by her peripheral vision.

"Hey, look," she gestured, pointing in the correct position. A snowflake spiraled down, landing on her outstretched paw.

(A/N: Anyone who gets the reference Asparagus used, you rule. ^^ And I hope I don't get murdered for not using the _exact _words of the prompt.)


	7. Mistletoe

~Chapter Seven~

_Mistletoe_

They saw a couple across the street, bundled up in warm, furry clothes and laughing at each other. Their cheeks were pink from the cold, only adding to their merry appearance.

Jellylorum's face grew grim as she watched them dance around in the cold.

"Jelly?" Asparagus piped up. "What's wrong?"

"It's just..." He could see a visible lump in her throat that she swallowed harshly. "That girl over there...she's my human's daughter."

The tom's eyes softened with concern.

"She couldn't care less about her mother," she continued, "or else she would come over more often than just once a year. Even though she lives right across the street, she acts as if she barely knows the woman. And it's just..." Her voice drifted away as the warm tears started to fall across her face. Asparagus nuzzled her gently, and she rested her head on top of his good shoulder as she continued to weep for the old lady's sake.

"Oh, Jelly," Asparagus whispered, desperately wanting her to smile again. He glanced across the street one more time, and found the couple on the stoop of the young lady's house. They both glanced up and stared at the mistletoe she had hung over her doorway. With another cloudy giggle, they leaned in for a kiss under the porch light.

"That's one holiday tradition I never did understand," he said, subconsciously rubbing Jellylorum's back. "Why does a tiny little plant need to tell people when to kiss? It just sounds a little silly, doesn't it?"

Jellylorum sniffed, and raised her head, desperately attempting to wipe the remainder of her tears.

"Well, when you put it that way-" She was cut off when she found her lips captured by his. The kiss was brief and cold, but she found her cheeks positively on fire when he pulled away, almost shocked to find his face tinted pink as well. For the next hour, they would not look each other in the eyes, even when they went back in the house to lay by the fire once more. But their tails stayed intertwined till morning.

_The End_

(A/N: Whee! I really hope you enjoyed! Jellicle Week is always fun! Reviews make me feel all fuzzy. Bai!)


	8. AWARDS

(A/N: WINNER OF SECOND PLACE IN JELLICLE WEEK DECEMBER! Thank you, BroadwayKhaos SO SO SO SO SO much! ^^)


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